STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

We are thinking of opening a joint checking account just for rent and bills.  If we do, we would just put however much is needed into that account and use it to write checks for everything.  It kinda sounds like a good idea, but it also kinda sounds like a big waste of time.  What does everyone else think? 

Everything has both of our names on it, but he is in charge.  It was kind of hard for me to relinquish control, and that meant I had to stop worrying about whether bills were paid on time or if he was using the money wisely, etc, but it really has been a huge relief to me not to have to think about it.  And the trust I put in him has strengthened our relationship and made him rise to the occasion.  He always talks to me before making a big purchase, not because he has to, but because he respects me and my opinion.  To me, that is worth it all!  And he always makes sure I have money and is always good to let me buy pretty much whatever I want (within reason ).

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Originally posted by: bex
"that is what we have talked about doing as well- however- i feel that we should do something like 20% of our monthly income goes into the checking because he makes WAY more than i do and i don't think that if he puts $800 a month in and I have to put $800 a month in it is fair... do you get what i am saying?  so i would rather do percentages of our incomes... and he doesn't agree with this...  grrr!  so for now it is staying separate until we can come to a happy medium."

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We are moving in together in a couple weeks and we've already talked about bills and such.  I will probably be making more than him so we're going to do 60/40 or something like that.  I think that's only fair.  I would feel bad if he paid as much as I did and then didn't have any money to go out with his guys while I have all this extra money to go shopping. 

Yep - we've had joint accounts for . . . 4 years now, since we were in highschool!  We don't think of it as your money, my money - it's all our money.  Neither of us goes too crazy with our purchases, and it's been pretty tight for awhile so we say "Can we afford  . . . this month?" quite a bit.  We just trust each other to spend within our means.

We have a different situation than most though - we've been together since before either of us was making any money to speak of, so it's always been our money.  If we had each had our own money/stuff/accounts/cars/CCs before we met, we'd probably feel very differently.

We have a joint checking acct and then we also have our own checking accounts. We need to keep some of our money separate, me - credit card bills, him - school loans.. Neither of us expect the other to pay for bills/loans we have racked up before we even know each other.

we have one small one that we use just for rent, bills (just joint stuff like cable and internet), and groceries. there is a set amount we each have to put in each month but it doesn't matter how it gets in there. (I put in half from each paycheck I get) The rest of our money is ours and we don't share.

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Originally posted by: jacL
"We are thinking of opening a joint checking account just for rent and bills.  If we do, we would just put however much is needed into that account and use it to write checks for everything.  It kinda sounds like a good idea, but it also kinda sounds like a big waste of time.  What does everyone else think?  "

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I think it depends on if you are married or not.  I love w/my boyfriend and right now we have our own checking/savings accounts.  When we pay bills, we each just pay half.  I handle all of the bills, so I just take his check book and write out his half in bills.  We send in two checks for each bill - one from me for my half and one from him for his half.  It's easier this way.  We've talked about when we get married having a joint checking for bills only and then each having our own separate checking for spending money.  He's really terrible w/money and I know it's something that could cause major fights, so I think it's best the way we do it now and the way we plan to once we are married.

Well I am on his checking account in case he has an emergency and needs me to go to the bank for him but that is the only account we "share".  I don't have him on any of mine yet and he took me off of his savings account when we broke up and he closed it.  Me being on his checking account was helpful during that time though because I paid for his movie ticket and he never paid me back so I transferred the money between accounts (he's still a lil upset over that one).

I think when we get married we will do joint accounts but not sure how we are going to work it all out.  I don't like the idea of one joint checking account for everything and one joint savings account for everything.  I like my privacy/independence.